Sectiow A OBJECTIVE MATERIALS IMPLEMENTATION Examine the Media BLACK LIES AND WHITE LIES To help students understand how connotations in our language perpetuate racism. Dictionaries; paper; pencils; chart paper; markers. Tell students they will work on an activity to examine language. Teach the term “con- notation.” Divide students into groups of four. Give each group a large sheet of paper. They list all the words or phrases they can think of that have the word “white” or “black” in them. For example, “black lies,” “black eye,” “white as snow.” After 10 minutes the ‘groups mark their lists as follows: “+” for a phrase with a positive connotation, “” for ‘one with a negative connotation, and “O” for one with a neutral connotation. Groups then look up the words “white” and “black” in their dictionaries and write down the definitions. tis helpful if different groups have different publishers’ dictionaries. Use dictionaries as advanced as they can handle, ‘The class joins together. Appoint a recorder to stand at the front of the room, Starting with “black,” each ‘group calls out a word or phrase with “black” in it. Record these along with the markings of “+,” *-," and “0.” Go around in turns until all the groups have their ideas listed. Then do the same for “white.” Similarly, list dictionary definitions, (Save these lists for a lesson in ‘Chapter 10.)